Four Steps to Getting Your Site Up and Running

2 min , 40 sec read

When you sign up for Pressable, WordPress is already installed. You don’t need to worry about choosing a suitable hosting company, or installing WordPress. We’ve turned the famous 5-minute install into a 30 second install. That makes creating your website as easy as signing up and getting started.

This article will show you how to set up your website and make it live in just five steps. It’s really that simple to get online with a professional, Pressable website.

1. Sign up for Pressable

We have plans to suit everyone! Our paid plans include all the bells and whistles, like collaborators, a CDN, and optional free SSL support.

You can check out our pricing page to sign up. Just enter your email address and the password you want to use and you’re good to go.

Once you’re signed up it’s just a matter of entering the sitename you wish to use.

After sign up you’ll get an email with all of your log in credentials.

2. Select a Theme and Add Content

Now that your website is ready, it’s time to choose your design. In WordPress the design is called a theme. WordPress comes pre-installed with the default Twenty Sixteen Theme. Feel free to use this theme or follow our theme guide to install your own.

As each theme is unique you’ll want to follow your theme’s documentation for setting things up. For example, some themes may have demo content you can use while others will require you to write your own content. While we’re happy to point you in the right direction we are unable to support custom themes at this time.

Now that you’ve selected your theme, it’s time to write some content. There are two default content types in WordPress: Posts and Pages.

Posts are dynamic content published on your blog. Posts always have the date attached to them (even if your theme hides it). By default the most recent Post will appear at the top of your blog page.

Pages are static content. This means that they aren’t related to the time at which they were published, and they aren’t affected when new content is added. Pages are often used for content such as contact, about, and home pages on your site.

The editor for both Posts and Pages is the same. In this guide we’ll be going over how to add your first Post.

To get started, from the Dashboard, navigate to Posts > Add New.

Give your Post a title:

Next, add your content. There are two different editors – Visual and Text. The Visual editor has options for formatting your content. If you want additional options, click on the Toggle Toolbar icon.

This adds the toolbar options for things like color and paragraph style:

If you wish to enter full screen writing mode click on the Distraction Free Writing icon. This mode allows you to focus on your writing without the other distractions of the editor.

The Text Editor is useful for writing code such as HTML. Anything you write in here will have no formatting added to it, unless you add the HTML code yourself.

At the top right hand corner of your screen, click the Screen Options tab at any time to get additional options, and the Help tag for contextual help.

When you’re happy with your content click Publish.

3. Expand Your Site With Plugins

You can extend your WordPress website by installing Plugins. Plugins are extensions to WordPress that let you take your website in the direction that suits you. Plugins give WordPress its powerful flexibility.

You could use Plugins for:

social media integration

user-submitted forms

event management

social networking

forums

SEO

analytics

and much, much, more.

All Pressable sites some with some installed plugins one of these plugins we recommend is the Jetpack plugin from WordPress.com. This plugin will bring wider security, speed, and sharing to your site. You may install your own from the Plugins menu.

4. Share Your Site With the World

You’ve created your website – now’s the time to share it with the world. The first thing you’ll need to do is update your DNS. This will make sure that your domains are pointed at Pressable. If you need help pointing your domain to Pressable follow our detailed instructions and reach out if you need help.

Now that your website is live, tell the world and increase your traffic. Here are some quick tips for doing just that:

Promote your website on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter